Meal Plan

Time for a meal plan! I needed another one much sooner than I did last time. I made pizza once and we never had a night of leftovers. Our leftovers rarely make it for another evening meal since we tend to eat them during the day for lunch. I've included 2 more recipes at the end of this post.

I made my sweet and sour chicken recipe list last session. I guess Traver had never had it before (he only eats with us 2 nights a week now) and he gave it a 9.93175 or something like that. Which is pretty impressive since my chocolate bundt cake and strawberry shortcakes are the only things that have ever got perfect 10's.

My next 10 meals are:

Mexican Chicken Skillet
Porcupine Meatballs (beef and turkey)
Rotel Chicken
Taco Salad (beef)
Feta stuffed chicken breasts
Lemon Chicken on Pasta
Calzones (beef)
Minimeat loaves (ground turkey)
Stuffed Enchilada Shells (ground turkey)
Chicken Italiano

And of course pizza is always on the menu as well as chicken strips and pancakes as needed. I am also making key lime dip for two different occassions this session as well.

Note only beef 3 times over the course of 10 meals. It's cheaper and healthier to do it this way. I used to try to go everyother meal, but now I'm trying for less frequently than that.

Here is my recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken

1lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size chunks
1 egg white
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cornstarch
1 10oz can pineapple tidbits (reserve juice)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c ketchup
1 tsp salt
2 T brown sugar
1 T + 1 tsp vegetable oil
2 red bell peppers cut into bite size chunks (I'm not a big pepper fan, but I like them in this recipe. So don't omit them the first time if you're not sure about them...try it with them. It's good. Promise.)
1 onion cut into bite size chunks (optional)
1/4 tsp ginger

1. In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Let rest at room temperature 15 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge.
2. Whisk together juice, vinegar, ketcup, salt and brown sugar for the sweet and sour sauce.
3. Cut up peppers and onion
4. Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat until a bead of water evaorates. Pour in 1 T vegetable oil (too hot for olive oil). Add chicken in one layer. Fry 1 min. untouched. Flip. Fry two more minutes. Chicken should still be slightly pinkish in the middle. Dish chicken out onto a plate leaveing as much oil in the pan as possible.
5. Turn head to medium and add remaining 1 tsp oil. Add peppers, onion, and ginger. Fry 1 minute. Add pineapple and sweet and sour sauce. Turn heat to heigh and when sauce is simmering add chicken back in. Simmer until chicken is done about 1-3 minutes.

Serve with brown rice.

I like to get everything ready during Luke's first nap and then I begin cooking about 15 minutes before we're ready to eat. Great for nights when that time of day is more rushed. It makes quite a lot of food.

Indian Corn
1 can corn, drained
1 lb browned ground beef
1 bottle taco sauce
1 tsp dried onion
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed.

Combine all in skillet and heat through. Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, jalepenos...whatever you like. Another favorite at our house...and quick and easy!